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Life can be hectic! If you are having a hard time fitting in your workouts, try a short 8 min beginner HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) workout to get you moving again! HIIT workouts are a training technique which involves intense bursts of high-intensity exercise followed by varying periods of low-intensity active rest, or complete rest. It’s an excellent workout for burning fat, boosting endurance, toning up all over and building explosive speed and strength.

If you have never exercised, it’s been a long time, or you’re over the age of 40, a thorough physical by your primary medical provider is strongly advised to make sure that you are physically ready to participate in regular exercise. Start slowly and stay within your limits. Make sure you allow enough time for your body to recover in between your workouts. As your fitness level improves, you can work at a harder pace during each interval and progress to more difficult exercises.

Try this short 8 min beginner HIIT workout and look out for an intermediate and advanced HIIT workout to follow in the coming months. No equipment is needed!

Jumping Jacks – Start with feet together and hands at your sides. Jump up, spread your feet and bring hands together over your head. Jump again and return to starting position. Repeat.

High Knees – Run in place with exaggerated knee lifts up to waist level. Make sure to land on the balls of your feet and move as quickly as you can while maintaining proper form by keeping your core tight.

Side shuffles – Stand with your feet a little wider than hip-width apart, bend your hips and knees and keep your toes pointing forward. Take a few quick side steps to the left and then quickly change directions to shuffle to the left.

Chair-Assist Squat – Stand tall with your feet hip distance apart. Your hips, knees, and toes should all be facing forward. Bend your knees and extend your buttocks backward as if you are going to sit back onto a chair, but don’t sit. Make sure that you keep your knees behind your toes and your weight in your heels. Rise back up and repeat.

Downward Dog to Plank –

Place your hands directly under the shoulders and feet shoulder-width apart. Ground the toes into the floor and squeeze the glutes to stabilize the body. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your feet. Neutralize the neck and spine by looking at a spot on the floor about a foot beyond the hands. Your head should be in line with your back.

Now, press the hips up and back reaching the chest towards the thighs. Lift up through the tailbone to keep the spine straight and long. Press the heels into the floor feeling a stretch in the back of the legs. The legs are straight, or you can have a small bend at the knees to keep the back flat. Let the head and neck hang freely from the shoulders or look up at the belly button. Hold stretch for 2 seconds and then go back to plank pose. Repeat

Abdominal Crunch – Begin flat on your back with your knees bent. Place your hands behind your head without interlocking fingers, and elbows out to the side. While exhaling, lift your shoulder blades off the ground as high as you can. Hold for a one to two-second count, then slowly release, beginning the next repetition when the head and shoulders are about to touch the ground.

One-Leg Deadlift – switch legs at 15 seconds – Start by standing on one leg with your knee slightly bent. Slowly hinge your hips and bend forward while keeping your back flat. The moving leg should be straight out behind you, with minimal knee bend to keep your spine aligned properly. Remember that the torso and the back leg have a seesaw relationship so the higher your back leg goes, the lower your chest goes.

Push-Up on Toes or Knees – Place your hands underneath your shoulders or slightly wider while keeping legs and back straight and up on your toes or your knees. Slowly lower your chest to the floor by bending your elbows and then extend arms straight to push body your body back up again.

Side Plank on Feet or Knees – Start on your side with your feet or knees together and one forearm directly below your shoulder. Contract your core and raise your hips until your body is in a straight line from head to feet. Hold.

Switch sides after 15 seconds.

Side to side hop – Jump side to side with feet together while landing softly on your toes. Keep your core tight.

Triceps Dip – Position your hands shoulder-width apart on a step or stable chair. Slide your butt off the front of the step with your legs out in front of you. Straighten your arms to push yourself up and then slowly bend your elbows to lower yourself back down. Repeat.

Wall Sit – Place your back against a wall with your feet shoulder-width apart and about 18 inches away from the wall. Keeping your spine flat against the wall, slowly slide down while making sure that your knees are lined up right above your ankles. Lower yourself as if you are sitting in a chair. Hold this position.

Bird Dog – Kneel on all fours with your knees under your hips and your hands under your shoulders. Raise arm out straight beside head while extending leg on opposite side out behind body. Lower arm and leg to the -floor to original position and repeat. Perform movement with opposite arm and leg. Keep your core tight and be careful not to arch your low back or allow your hips to rotate.